creativity + camera

Oh my goodness, it’s been seven months since I last did a random post! Are you excited to see another one, or do you prefer my photography posts? I’d love to hear your thoughts. 🙂 To my newer readers, my random posts are basically fun, unorganized posts where I share everything from photography to tags to DIYs. I hope you’ll enjoy reading this one – let’s dive right in!

Random Topic #1: Giveaway Winner

Thank you so much to everyone who entered my four-year blogiversary giveaway! I wish I could send you all a package, but I’m afraid I don’t have the funds for that. XD Let’s find out who did win!

Congratulations, Sydney! Your package is on its way. 🙂 I hope you enjoy it!

Random Topic #2: New Profile Photo

GUYS, BIG NEWS. I have a new profile photo. 😮 Okay, it’s not actually a big deal, but I thought I should inform y’all so you know it’s me commenting on your blogs. XD Here’s what it looks like:

Laura took this for me under the condition that I give her credit, so… thanks, dear sister! Click here to check out her blog – she’s been working hard to grow her audience and she does a lot of super cool giveaways that you won’t want to miss! She’s currently giving away a pack of washi tape in every color of the rainbow and you should definitely go enter. 😀

Random Topic #3: Christmas… Collection?

I couldn’t think of a word to use in place of “haul”. XD I thought you guys might like to see some of the things that I was given for Christmas! My family and friends always give such thoughtful gifts, and I’m so grateful for them. ❤ This won’t be a list of everything since I couldn’t quite remember all of the small things. XD

My grandparents gave me an EXTREMELY MASSIVE AMOUNT OF BOOKS, OH MY GOODNESS. Guys, if you want to make me happy, buy me books. I have officially run out of bookshelf space and I couldn’t be happier. XD

I’m realizing now how many of these books are Newbery Medal winners. The books that win those awards are usually fantastic!

Going Solo is one of the best autobiographies I’ve ever read – you should all check it out. 😀

Here’s Salt to the Sea and The End, which is the final book in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series.

Moon Over Manifest and Challenger Deep – two very different but equally good books. 😀

The final book is Okay For Now, which I’ve mentioned several times recently – it’s one of the best books ever!

Here’s a little cactus-shaped pencil holder that I’ve been using to store washi tape. Isn’t it pretty?

EEP, this was such an exciting gift! My very thoughtful sister gave me this set of 100 Pixar postcards with beautiful artwork on them. I have some of my favorites hanging on my gold grid right now:

I love them so much! 😍

My sister also gave me this adorable little Sven figure. He looks like he needs a hug, doesn’t he? *squishes him*

Megan and Allison sent the lovely envelopes and the gold Sharpie pen is from Madi. 🙂 Also, I don’t have a photo of it, but Megan and Allison sent us an AMAZING custom board game that Allison designed, and it’s definitely one of the coolest gifts anyone has ever given us!! ❤

These iron-on patches are so neat! I have a bag that’s covered in pins and patches, and these were great additions to my collection. 😀

Lastly we have this sign from one of my friends, which is quite the fitting gift considering my overflowing bookshelves. XD

What were some of your favorite Christmas gifts? 🙂

Random Topic #4: BIBPC Entries

How many of you are participating in BIBPC? For those of you who don’t know, it’s a photography contest hosted by Megan @ A Barefoot Gal. A few of you have seen my BIBPC page, but if you haven’t, here are my entries so far:

I got a new plant! I’ve actually had him for a little while, but I don’t think I ever introduced him on here.

Say hello (or should I say aloe) to Leo, short for Leonardo da Vinci. 😛 He’s already grown so much since I bought him! I love how easy aloe plants are to care for. Do you have any plants, and if so, what are their names?

Random Topic #7: Awesome Blogger Award

*collective gasp* Clara is doing an award! My extreme apologies to those of you who nominated me ages ago – I pretty much only do these in my random posts, so they take me a while. Anyways, today I’ll be doing a tag from Olivia – thanks for nominating me!

Rules: Thank the person who nominated you. Tag your post with #awesomebloggeraward. Answer the questions you were asked. Nominate at least 5 bloggers and inform them of their nominations. Give them 10 new questions to answer.

Questions:

What is your best memory?I… don’t even know how to answer this. XD I can’t just pick one memory! Some of my favorite memories are during the summer – swimming on hot afternoons, going to the fair, picking wild blackberries, etc. But I don’t think I can pick one specific memory. 😛 Do you prefer to use spoons, forks, or sporks? I prefer forks. Does anyone actually use sporks? They seem pretty useless to me. Tell me in the comments if you use them, because now I’m curious. XD

What is your favorite quote?I have countless favorite quotes from the books I love! I’ll pick a few random ones from Goodreads for your enjoyment.

“It seems unfair not to give credit where credit is due simply because one lacks a certain number of candles on one’s birthday cake.” ― Kirby Larson, Hattie Big Sky

“It made her feel discouraged, like if you took the word apart into two sections of dis and couraged. It was getting harder and harder to stay couraged.” ― Susan Patron, The Higher Power of Lucky

“The world is full of disappointment,” I said.“Yes,” she said, “I heard him say that. And every creature is simply trying to get what it wants, and to make their way through a difficult world. Do you believe that?”“No,” I said. “There’s more than that.”“Like what?”“Like good books,” I said, “and good people. And good librarians, who are almost both at once.” ― Lemony Snicket, Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?

“Sometimes I think my papa is an accordion. When he looks at me and smiles and breathes, I hear the notes.” ― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

What are some of your favorite book quotes?

Where would you travel right now, if you could go anywhere?THE MOON. I can’t think of any place on Earth that would be cooler than that. Any future astronauts willing to take a photographer along? What type of music do you like?I listen to a lot of different kinds of music! Some of my favorite bands are NEEDTOBREATHE, Rend Collective, Sleepy Man, Chris Stapleton, and CCR. What is your favorite season and why?SUMMER! Yes, it’s a thousand degrees, but it’s always such a fun time of year that leaves me with lots of new experiences and memories. Do you enjoy libraries?Of course! I would say I prefer bigger libraries to smaller ones, because it’s easier to find a quiet place to read. How many siblings do you have?I’m the second-oldest of five siblings – three sisters and two brothers.

They’re great. XD

Have you ever kept a diary, and why?Yep! I kept a diary when I was 8 or 9, and then I just started keeping a journal again this year. I’m excited to be able to look back and see what I was thinking about throughout the year. 🙂

My questions:1. What is your opinion on beluga whales?2. Disney or Pixar?3. What’s your favorite thing about summer?4. What is your opinion on handshakes?5. What’s something you’ve done that most people haven’t?6. How do you pronounce “ukulele”?7. Would you rather never read another book or never leave your home state?8. What’s your least favorite mythical creature?9. What’s one thing you hope will be invented in your lifetime?10. What’s the #1 thing on your wishlist right now?

Aria is an incredible photographer, writer, and artist – her gorgeous blog is so much fun to read and I really don’t know why it isn’t one of the most popular in the blogosphere! Click here to follow her blog, and let me know in the comments if you know of any blogs that deserve more attention. 😀

Random Topic #9: Highly Important January Holidays

This post has been quite lengthy, but before you go, you need to know about a few extremely important holidays occurring this month. XD

Are you going to celebrate any of these holidays? Get out there and splash your friends, appreciate squirrels, clean your desk, and, um… other stuff. XD If you want to keep track of all the national days, you should check out National Day Calendar! Or you could be the boring person who only celebrates the big holidays. (But who would do that when you could be celebrating bubble wrap?)

WHEW, thank you so much for taking the time to read that post! I hope you have a wonderful week, my friends. ❤

Which random topic was your favorite? What are your favorite quotes? How do YOU pronounce “ukulele”? What was your favorite Christmas gift? Tell me everything in the comments below!

Ohh, I love Savvy! I’m almost positive I liked the second book too. Oh, I’ve read Moon Over Manifest too! I’ve heard such good things about Salt to the Ocean, but I haven’t read it yet. The Roald Dahl biography looks very good- I added it to my Goodreads tbr! I love the pixar postcards and the patches and pins. Hahaha, the Lemony Snicket quote is hilarious. And of course, The Book Thief quote is beautiful. Have you read his new book? Here’s a quote I like:
A smiling boy, no more than ten years old, held out a little cone of chestnuts as we approached. “Gift courtesy of Rotwell’s,” he said. “Go safe tonight.”
“We’re not having any,” Lockwood growled. “George, I want you just to walk on by.”
“But I’m hungry.”
“Tough. You’re not walking down the street with one of those cones in your hand. I would be a crime to advertise a competitor.”
He ignored the boy and stalked on past. George hesitated, then took the cone and popped it in his pocket. “There,” he said. “Nicely out of sight. I say it’s a crime to refuse free food.”
Oh, I’ve never heard of Google Keep before. Is there an app version of it?
Haha, thanks for including the holidays.
Great post! :))

Ooh, I haven’t read the second book yet, but I need to do that! Salt to the Sea is amazing – you should definitely read it. 🙂 Thank you! Nope, I haven’t read that book, but I love that quote. XD I’ll add it to my TBR!
Yep, there’s an awesome app for Google Keep. Thanks for commenting! 😀

Oh my gosh!!! I love Savvy and Salt to the Sea. Salt to the Sea is so good but soooo sad. cries into pillow Your Christmas sounds like it was amazing! Leo is absolutely adorable! Oooh, I’ll have to check out Aria’s blog.

flails RANDOM POST RANDOM POST EEEEEP YAYYYY MY NIGHT IS IMPROVED! XD XD Oh certainly, I LOVE your random posts, Clara! Then again, I love your photography posts too… I guess I like about an even mixture of both, leaning more toward the photography side of things. 😛 (Wow, what specific tastes. O.o) But yeah, no, ANY post by Clara is bound to be good. nods firmly

Congratulations to the winner, and thank you for hosting that amazing giveaway, Clara!
OOH A NEW PROFILE PICTURE? Beautiful, Clara! ❤ Laura did an excellent job. Also I love your shirt. 🙂
WHOA, so many gorgeous books, oh my goodness! That cactus pencil holder is perfect, and those postcards are so neat! I’m so glad you liked our gifts – we loved yours! 🙂 Your Christmas collection looked marvelous!
Yay for BIBPC! My favorite picture is of Maude, but HA HA, I love the Fur-E! XD XD
Aww, I’m honored to be on your list of favorite posts. 🙂 ❤
HI, LEO! What a handsome plant. 😛 I think we used to have an aloe, but… no longer. We should try again. gazes fondly at unnamed succulent on studio windowsill XD XD
Well, see, the problem with sporks is that they’re always plastic (at least that I’ve seen), so they’re pretty flimsy. But otherwise they’re nice because you can use them as forks for, say, green beans, or as spoons for, say, applesauce. But then again, being plastic with short prongs, they probably wouldn’t be great for something like salad… (And thus ends my philosophical discourse on sporks. :’D ) Also WHOA that’s a lot of lists! O.o
YES YES I LOVE ARIA’S BLOG AND SHE SHOULD DEFINITELY HAVE MORE FOLLOWERS! nods
Wow, there are some quite… unusual holidays on that list. XD Hmm, I may have to celebrate “clean your desk day.” XD So far it’s not too bad, but it could always be better. 😉 Oh, and for Winne the Pooh Appreciation Day, I suggest celebrating it by watching “Christopher Robin” – it’s such a good, sweet movie! Have you seen it?

Now for your end-of-post questions…

My favorite random topic was probably… the Christmas collection, perhaps? (Maybe because it was one of the longest, heh heh.) I don’t know, I liked them all. 🙂

My favorite quotes… ooh boy, that’s a hard one. Other than the quotes you’ve sent me or I’ve sent you already… um… well okay, this isn’t necessarily my favorite, but I like it: “In all things essential, unity; in all things non-essential, liberty; and in all things, love.” I think it’s a good quote to live by. 🙂

I pronounce “ukelele” like “you-kuh-LAY-lee.” How about yourself?

And I have no idea what my favorite Christmas gift was. O.o XD

With that, I shall wrap up this comment because I always type in mortal fear that my computer will crash or I’ll click something accidentally and ALL MY WORK WILL BE RUINED. XD XD Hopefully that doesn’t happen.
I LOVED this post, Clara, in case you weren’t sure. 😉 Have a wonderful day!

Oh wow- my post is up there. XD Thanks! Also your photography and ahh- I love these random posts! 😀
Oooh- I’d have to say the Artsy Arrow could use more attention. It’s a semi new blog by a friend of mine, Meredith! 🙂 I think the link is: http://artsyarrow.wordpress.com/

OH WOWWW now I really wished I could enter giveaways- the cactus lights were tearing my heart to bits and pieces. And now I get the Fur-E part XD Thanks for the explanation! HAHAHA I love that picture of your siblings; your brother looks so suspicious. I just dropped Aria a follow 😉

Yeee random postttt :DD I like a mix of everything.
I love your new profile pic! Gj Laura :’D Uhh I actually didn’t realize you were siblings…
WELCOME LEO ❤
So many booooooks-I got a ton for christmas too xD Have you read all of A Series of Unfortunate Events? The End is quite unfortunate
PIXARRR <3333 Those postcards are so cool 😀
I love all of those quotes!! I may be biased towards the book thief one
Mhm Aria’s blog is amazing!
I am DEFINITELY gonna celebrate National Nothing Day. And probably national Winnie the Pooh day. runs around wearing eeyore bathrobe
Yewk-eh/uh-lay-lee
My favorite gift was prolly my new bullet journal 🙂

Congrats Sydney! Your new profile picture is lovely, I love your shirt! Aww, Leo is cute, my sister actually has a dog named Leo 😂 Now to answer your questions:
Which random topic was your favorite? I liked the Christmas Collection topic
What are your favorite quotes? Umm, no great thing was done by average means.
How do YOU pronounce “ukulele”? Uka-le-le
What was your favorite Christmas gift? Joanna Gaines’ design book Homebody.

Eeeeep my post is on your favorites list!!!! Thank youuuuu!
Um when I was little I used to say ukelele “you-le-ke-kee”. Somewhere along the road I learned that 1) I was weird and 2) it was pronounced “you-ka-ley-lee”. Is there another way to say it tho?

awww… thank you so much, clara! i’ve never really won a giveaway before, so this is beyond amazing!! the package came in last night, and i’m so excited to open it! (my mom said i had to wait till morning to open the package) the packaging looks adorable, and i’m so, so excited! thank you so much for hosting the giveaway, clara. 💜

I love your random posts! 🙂
Congratulations to Sydney!
It’s fun seeing people’s Christmas gifts… that is indeed a lot of books!
Nice to meet Leo! Plants are fun ☺. I have two little succulents in my room. My first is Sherlock; he is a elephant bush/food succulent that I cut from our larger plant and replanted. My second is Winnie, short for Winifred; I think she is some type of aloe succulent.
I would say Yoo-Kuh-Lay-Lee.
Happy National Step in the Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day!!
~ Gracie

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW CLARA YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO DO THAT.
YOU JUST MADE MY DAY
AND WEEK
AND MONTH TOO PROBABLY.
Anyway, yay for a random post! I much enjoyed it. AHHH. Where do I start? Yay to Sydney for winning the giveaway! And I LOVE your new profile picture! It’s so pretty, Clara! Is that a dress by Old Navy? Because it looks really similar to one I saw last year, actually. You got some great gifts! Eeep, I KNEW you’d love Spin-a-Roodle. Allison told me she was working on it for you. 🙂 And I really want to read Because of Winn-Dixie. Books are always amazing gifts. Yay for Leo! I have like, six plants in my room right now. O.o oh yeah, and i was going to say those Pixar post cards are SO COOL!
Did you clean off your desk today? XD XD

AWWW I’M SO GLAD. 😀 I hope your blog continues to grow!! ❤
I’m so glad you enjoyed my post! Thank you so much – that’s actually a shirt, and I must admit I have no idea where it’s from. XD
Haha, we definitely did love it! 🙂 Ooh, you SHOULD read Because of Winn-Dixie. And all the rest of Kate DiCamillo’s books. XD Wow, that’s a lot of plants. 0_0 AHH I KNOW!
Whoops… glances at the aftermath of envelope-decorating spread across my desk Doing that now! 😀 XD